RegenPGC Ph.D. student Memiş Bilgici, joined by RegenPGC colleagues Sara Lira, Lucas Borras, Ken Moore & Thomas Lübberstedt, has authored a new academic publication for the academic journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
The article, Trends in stomatal density and size in maize hybrids representing 100 years of long-term breeding for yield* highlights four main research findings:
- Modern hybrids had higher stomatal density but lower total stomatal pore area than historical hybrids.
- Across 27 Pioneer hybrids, stomatal density was negatively correlated with stomatal size, length, width, and leaf area.
- Over the past 100 years, the total stomatal pore area on leaves decreased, while stomatal density increased as leaf area declined, revealing a connection between these two patterns.
- Total stomatal pore area was negatively correlated with release-year atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature anomaly (°C) over the past century.
According to Memiş, “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first crop-focused study to show century-scale changes in stomatal traits associated with long-term maize breeding for yield.”
*Bilgici, Memiş, Ebrahimi, Elnaz, Prada de Miranda, Leticia, Lira, Sara, Borras, Lucas, Young, Thomas, Yavuz, Recep, Moore, Kenneth J., Dixon, Philip, & Lübberstedt, Thomas. (2026). Trends in stomatal density and size in maize hybrids spanning 100 years of long-term yield breeding. Front. Plant Sci., 17:1829321. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1829321
